The Cirrus chip is inferior to the Wolfson chips in the older iPod Classics.

That statement proves to me you don't know what you're talking about. Especially since a Wolfson is actually proven to be inferior (and yes, Cowon uses Wolfson - but they have a pretty solid eq). Be a fanboi, but be honest.

And I'm not a Cowon lover either,...but I love me some Sony!!!

But, as someone has mentioned, calling a spade a spade is what it is. This is no longer a valid device. But in 1999 I would have been a tech king with it!!! A modern cell phone toasts it!!!

Anyways,....LATERS!!!

The chip in the iPod Classic 4th gen is better than the chip in the iPod Touch/iPod Nano/iPhone etc etc. Wolfson may be a worse brand but my statement stands.

It IS a valid device. It's a tablet with a keyboard and gaming controls. In what possible way can it be invalid?

If Pandora is "1999", then maybe you can explain why it is by far my preferred portable device, over the N900 Linux phone, any Android phones, any iPhone, my 3DS, my netbooks, and my ASUS G75VW 3D laptop? Many other people feel the same way. Are we crazy? Can you suggest any device that I might like better?

Why would you insult a product (or person), about which you know almost nothing? You don't like how it looks? Without having used it or read about it, you're convinced that the audio won't be any good?

You don't have to like Pandora, you don't have to buy it, you can criticise it (I did too) - but what's the point to be strongly negative about it? Does it make you feel better?

If you can't be positive or constructive, why not go and talk about something else, somewhere else?

Guys, settle down everybody. Why are we having a full-blown flamewar over a geek toy? Seriously. The Pandora wasn't primarily intended to be a DAP, it (probably) holds potential as one, but claiming one device to be better than the other is somewhat absurd if nobody's actually compared the two. And even then, it might just be a matter of personal preference.

I'll eventually get a Pandora because I'm a retro gaming nerd and I totally admire the project and the team that made it happen. I will probably pair it with my USB DACs just to see how it fares and now that I know that one of the developers is actually an audiophile, I'll certainly try it stand-alone as well. Will it replace my Iriver, s:flo2, Ipod Video/Touch/nano, Cube C30 or any of my other DAPs? Certainly not. But this is head-fi, don't we all have more gear than we could ever really justify?

If Pandora is "1999", then maybe you can explain why it is by far my preferred portable device, over the N900 Linux phone, any Android phones, any iPhone, my 3DS, my netbooks, and my ASUS G75VW 3D laptop? Because you are an excentric hobbyist

Many other people feel the same way. Are we crazy? Not that many people Ill bet, show me production numbers please, then show me the numbers of people that buy it and never use it again.

Can you suggest any device that I might like better? Laptop, tablet, phone, the original consoles, as for a music player - clip - ipod/lod/amp -colorfly c3 ck4 - hisounds products - cowons - ibasso - samsung galaxy player blah blah blah all far more practical and all with excellent sq

Why would you insult a product (or person), about which you know almost nothing? How do you know what he knows

You don't like how it looks? Yes amongst a lot of other things.

Without having used it or read about it, you're convinced that the audio won't be any good? Firstly how do you know whos read about it, personally iv been up to date since it was a concept, time has passed it by. As for the audio being any good. well it can be good but not as good as op is trying to make out. combine that with the rest of it being shoky and impractical well....

You don't have to like Pandora, you don't have to buy it, you can criticise it (I did too) - but what's the point to be strongly negative about it? You are seeing a lot of negative comments on it (that should tell you something.) Does it make you feel better? stupid statement.

If you can't be positive or constructive, why not go and talk about something else, somewhere else? maybe because..... emm.......... i dont know? because this is an audio discussion site and people will discuss it good or bad. If we let you and your 1/2 buddys bang on about how great an idea this was with no counterpoint of reference.

Pandora owners have compared their iPods and other music players to the Pandora and everyone has said the Pandora beats them.

I cannot attest to anything comparing it to standalone DACs or amps because I don't have one yet.

I can definitely say that the Pandora is compatible with any standalone amp. Additionally, the DAC in the unit is good enough to warrant not needing an external DAC, but if you really want to, you can connect an E17, or a dragonfly, or some other device to the USB-OTG port and the Pandora will recognize it.

I own a Pandora (600 MHz, 512 MB RAM). I like it. This involves music playback, web surfing, gaming and usage as a portable open computer. I love it. Do I deserve an angry rant now?

Seriously, why can't we keep this discussion at a nice and understanding level? There's really no need for a flame war. The Open Pandora people aren't trying to make their device sound like something it isn't. Hell, it was never even intended for the "general population". It's a niche device for us who love Linux, Open Source, portability and hackability. It's really not playing or even trying to play in the league of ordinary commercial consumer products. It's not even produced by an ordinary company, it's pretty much a home project by a handful of enthusiasts. They aren't even making money off it yet.

If you're interested in how this device came to be, have a look at this eurogamer review:

And yes. I would say that this device has the best SQ of every other portable music player I've heard in my life. But no, I haven't heard iBasso or other high end stuff. Compared to what most people use to listen to music though, it's fantastic. It drives my HD 650 reasonably well. FiiO E17 succeeds just a tiny bit better (and can be used with the Pandora). This is a bonus though, it isn't intended to be used as a portable music player. I find it useful for that purpose, I keep it in my coat pocket and I don't think it's too large. The battery life is amazing (4000 mAh).

Finally, I am not trying to sell this device to anyone. Actually, I discourage it to most. Don't buy the Pandora if you haven't got the slightest interest in the Open Source/Linux/homebrew/retrogaming-scene at all. Because it's meant for us who have got that interest. It's not proprietary and that is scary, weird and not really user friendly to many people.